Cracked Hope

Working title. Just came back to finish this after so long.

A/N: And she wondered if she had fallen farther than what her mind was deigned to tell her.

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The weather was rarely beautiful at the Glass Wall Gate. It wasn't built like a bastion's gate but rather, like its namesake, a literal glass wall that was erected for as long as anyone could remember.

How strong was it? What laid beyond the peculiar border? As far as anyone knew, it was fragile but repairs itself in a blink of an eye that it didn't seem shattered in the first place. And beyond it was a world called Reality, a place where unprotected dreams would never last. So it was not a land many would want to venture into.

But it never stopped those who were curious and daring. The few denizens who'd come near the wall all came back with the same story. The moment they tried stepping towards the gate, a cold hand would clutch at their heart, filling it with a sense of dread that they could not explain. Strongers ones managed to step back and break free from the shuddering grasp, while the others had stayed immobile until the guardian would come by and pull them away.

A rough hand stroked the surface of the wall. It was always cold to the touch. The hand remained unmoving for a while, then retracted and fell to the side of a young woman. It was completely pointless for the wall's mechanisms to stop her. After all, she wasn't originally a denizen of that world within.

"Welcome back." A baritone voice floated to her ears. She turned to face a man with long dark hair swept up into a neat ponytail. She acknowledged him with a nod and he continued, "Summer has been working in your favor so far?"

"So far." She replied, stretching her arms until she heard a satisfactory pop. "Aside from my life out there, I need to take care of you all."

A gentle silence fell between them, broken when Haizek asked her question.

"How's Grave taking the news, Azzy?" Despite the young pianist's wishes, she still had Azrael check on him every now and then. It would be very poor of her to simply stop caring for one of her children. Azrael pocketed his hands, shaking his head. "No changes." He answered without missing a beat. She wasn't going to deny that the very changes that have been happening all over the world within were mostly the fault of her own problems on the outside. A handful brought good, others ominous, while many more remained confusing.

She refrained from sighing. It was becoming too much of a bad habit nowadays. Instead, she sat against the glass wall. Dark eyes inspected the empty ground before her whilst her mind drifted to other things.

Yesterday... Today... Tomorrow... she thought of everything thinkable. With the current flow of her life, the musing wasn't very relaxing. Too many problems outweighed the good she was looking forward to.

"... Are you alright?" The faux angel furrowed his brows, squatting before her with one knee touching the ground.

'Why does he bother asking?' The thought shot through her mind as she stared at him. She could just shake her head, give an excuse, but now she was too tired to keep everything to herself. She had been doing that too much for too long.

"No. Not exactly." Her children's problems. Her friends' problems. A failure that wasn't exactly a failure by skills. Being reminded that life expected her share. Keeping up with the aforementioned expectation and dealing with the emotions that came with it... And that was only to name a few of the ones she would care to actually put a thought to! Haizek could name them all if she had the time to go through the whole list but now really wasn't an appropriate time.

Azrael didn't press her, merely waited for her to speak as he often did.

She hugged her legs close, rested her chin on her knees and she closed her eyes. If she listened closely enough, the nearby Forest of Fire's night music could be faintly heard. It was relaxing, offering her some semblance of comfort in that moment.

"... You're thoughtful." Haizek spoke, directing it towards the only person before her. A little smile illuminating her face despite the trouble and sadness in her eyes. Azrael tilted his head towards her, though his eyes never strayed from some point ahead of them. "Thoughtful? I'm only doing as I've been tasked to do." He replied.

She laughed, it sounded forced but it was better than all the sighing she had been doing recently. She remarked, "Still... even if it's a duty, you still do it with little complaint. Whether or not it's a duty."

"It's because I know you need someone to listen, even if I'm not really the best choice."

Haizek turned her head up in surprise. "What are you talking about? You're not half as bad as Luke!"

"Why compare me to Bel- No, actually, why would you even want to talk to him in that manner?" It was Azrael's turn to be slightly surprised and amused. "Lord knows that man would just ignore you for a rock."

"Or better still, suggest that I either cut myself off or kill the bastards screwing with me." Haizek spoke in a deadpan voice.

"Either way works." Azrael finished in an accurate imitation of Luke's monotone. It made the young woman laugh. Not forced, but neither was it genuinely amused. The air rang with the light timbre of her laughter, ending moments later with a resounding echo floating down either sides of the wall.

Sometimes she wondered why she tried so hard when in the end, the efforts are wasted. Shit happens. she thought, And the only way I can deal with it is to be a worthless smiling, half-ass martyr of the Screwed Loners' Society. It was a funny thought. She didn't even know if a such a society really existed, but it sounded so amusing in her head she laughed out loud again.

Then again, it made the faux angel beside her stare. When she saw his look, she shrugged and said, "The world loves me, Azzy. That's all."

A hand immediately appeared in her vision. Haizek blinked, looking to see Azrael still in that same pose, only with his arm stretched out towards her. She looked at his quiet expression, then back to his hand. His action startled and confused her that she couldn't decide what to do.

"Just take my hand." He spoke. Not knowing what to expect from him, however not wanting to refuse his rare request, she did as was told.

I can't do anything out there. Azrael thought as he pulled them up. But while you're in this realm, there's always something I can do for you. No matter how small.

"Where are we going?"

"I think you may know."

And he led her farther away from the wall, disappearing into the mists that separated the world within from its boundary.

END ENTRY.